Japan chart: 3DS plummets pre price drop

Japanese sales of the 3DS have fallen off a cliff following the announcement that the struggling portable will get a hefty price cut next week.

As reported by Andriasang, Nintendo's handheld sold just 16,415 units last week. That's around half of what it managed the week before, putting it below the PlayStation 3 and Wii for the first time in its short life.

The PSP returned to the top spot, boasting a healthy increase from 26,854 sales last week to 36,659.

Here's how the rest of the field measured up:

PSP: 36,659 (Last week: 26,854)

PS3: 20,704 (23,343)

Wii: 18,232 (17,114)

3DS: 16,415 (31,826)

DSi XL: 5267 (5258)

DSi: 4625 (4921)

Xbox 360: 1616 (1546)

PS2: 1594 (1475)

DS Lite: 138 (155)

PSP go: 7 (14)

Last week's software number one, Rhythm Heaven Wii, hung on to the top spot seeing off challenges from two handheld RPGs: Namco's Queen's Gate Spiral Chaos for PSP and Atlus' Devil Survivor 2 on DS.

The PlayStation 3 version of Codemaster's FPS sequel Operation Flashpoint: Red River just missed out on a top 10 debut, finishing at 11, while Dungeon Siege 3 made an inauspicious start way down at 18. Here's the full chart: